


Lists

by edourado



Series: Hell's Kitchen Chronicles [89]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Drabble, F/M, kastle - Freeform, kastleradio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 06:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12248619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edourado/pseuds/edourado
Summary: This was my entry for #kastleradio week. I can't seem to be able to stray far from the "Frank takes care of Karen" trope.





	Lists

An explosion. A fucking explosion.

He knew Karen was careless - despite her many claims otherwise - but to be caught in an explosion was a little too much.

Still, she kept insisting she was fine.

He climbed through her window not twenty minutes after finding out what happened - and not really thinking about how quickly he would drop everything at the mention of her name - and found her in bed.

Frank masked the sigh of relief that left him with an irritated scoff.

“You’re something else, did you know that?” he told her, closing her window and walking towards her. At least she had the decency of looking sheepish. “Let me see”, he asked, sitting by the edge of her bed after shedding his coat and his vest.

She had bruises and cuts and scrapes on her face, her neck, her shoulder, her arms, her legs. When he pressed, she told him a heavy chunk of metal flew right at her ribs, and she was having some trouble standing straight. Nothing was broken, though.

“Have you been to a doctor?”

“Yes, Frank, of course I have.”

“And you’re taking time off work.”

She nodded.

“I’m gonna kill Red”, he said, suddenly incredibly irritated, shocked, even, that he wasn’t informed about her, he spent almost 24 hours not knowing, not even imagining she was caught up in the explosion that almost made Max bark out of his skin.

“I asked him not to tell you”, she confessed.

“Why in the name of fuck-”

“Because I knew you were gonna fuss!”

He fixed her with a hard look, and he was impressed. Most soldiers under him couldn’t sustain that. Karen Page did.

“I don’t fuss, ma’am. And that was a stupid ass thing to do.”

She looked at him.

“Which thing?”

“The list is long”, he said, covering her back up. “Do you need anything?”

“Frank, I told you, I’m-”

“Just tell me if you need anything, you stubborn woman”, he breathed out, getting up from her bed. He felt too dirty and her linens looked too clean.

“Well”, she said after a second. “Now that you asked, I could eat.”

He put his cap on and left, her dinner order memorized. When he came back, this time entering through the front door, he had a duffle bag on his shoulder.

“Are you moving in?” She asked, trying to sit up.

“For a while, yes I am.”

They were passed the stage where he refused to occupy her space. Her old couch had the imprint of his back on it, until she got rid of it and got a new one, more comfortable. He didn’t sleep there as often as he liked (also another thing he was past doing: telling himself he didn’t like crashing at her place), but it had happened.

“I already have a nurse, you know”, she said and he looked her way while dropping the bag on the chair by the window. She was mostly teasing, that small smile that could tear down walls appearing.

He liked to think that that was his smile. A strange unpleasant feeling surged inside him when he imagined her smiling like that at someone else.

“Where’s Max?” she asked.

“Red has him.”

She laughed weakly.

“I’d like to see Matt taking care of a dog.”

Frank shed his coat again, and placed the bag with her food on her bedside table, walking to the kitchen to get a tray.

When he came back, she was moving about the bed a bit, and he rushed to help.

“I can do it, I can do it, it’s OK”, she said when he reached for her.

With the skeptical look, Frank let her try and sit up by herself, but she hissed and screwed her eyes shut.

“Ow, ow, ow, shit”, she exclaimed under her breath and took the hand he offered.

“Cracked ribs, ma’am. They’re a bitch.”

When he was done placing pillows behind her back and under her elbows and making sure she was not feeling pain, he placed the tray and the food in front of her.

They ate together, she in bed and him sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, listening as she told him about being caught in the explosion of the office of a gangster.

“And why the hell were you interviewing a gangster?” He asked after swallowing his forkful of food.

“He was looking to take the place vacated by Cornell Stokes. Someone has to expose his true colors. It was a good story.”

He clicked his tongue disapprovingly and ate another bite, watching as she took the fork to her mouth slowly.

“Well, now he’s dead.”

When they were done eating, he asked if she wanted coffee, and she shook her head.

"Tea.”

"Ok”, he whispered, taking the tray and the dishes to the kitchen. “Ok if I take a shower?” He asked when he came back with the steaming mug, placing it on her bedside table.

She smiled.

“If you’re going to live here, I hope showers are a regular thing”, she said, teasing again. “Do you mind if I brush my teeth first?”

Frank helped her up, mindful of her scrapes and her bruises, a hand supporting her ribs while she took slow, measured steps towards the bathroom, her right hand tight around his.

She was wearing a big shirt and small pajama shorts, and a small part of his brain registered that he liked that she was so comfortable around him, not even feeling the need to wrap a robe around herself.

Frank took his shower after she took her painkillers and was sipping on tea, assuring him she would be able to lie back down by herself.

When he exited the bathroom, he felt refreshed, wearing sweatpants and a clean shirt. Karen was lying down, but he still adjusted the pillows against her.

“Hey”, she called when he moved to go to the living room and settle for the night. “You don’t have to take the couch… If you don’t want to”, she said, voice soft.

He looked at her for a second, considering, trying to convince himself not to.

“I promise I won’t kick you”, she said in a whisper, blinking slowly.

There were several reasons for him to take the vacant spot by her side. She might need to get up during the night, he might need to get her a glass of water, she might feel some pain, he should keep an eye on her ribs, her mattress would be better for his back than the couch, she might feel safer with him there, they were both adults in the 21st century.   

All those things were true. The one thing that made him say “Ok” and settle by her, watching as she turned on her side, facing him, and watch her face until she fell asleep was not on that list.


End file.
